A Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) is a man-made structure designed to mimic the form and function of a natural beaver dam. BDAs can also be used to increase the probability of successful beaver translocation by creating immediate deep water habitat that reduces the risk of predation. In general, the design and installation of BDA complexes is a simple, cost-effective, non-intrusive approach to stream restoration that can influence a suite of hydraulic, geomorphic and hydrologic processes in order to achieve a range of common restoration goals.
Videos
Conservation professionals turned a negative into a positive in the aftermath of the 65,000-acre Sharps wildfire on Baugh Creek in the Little Wood watershed in Central Idaho. A major partnership project led by the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission led to the installation of more than 120 beaver dam-type low-tech structures along Baugh Creek and two other tributaries to help restore the streams in a post-fire environment. The beaver dam analogs and other woody in-stream structures slow down the water flow, increase meanders and store water high in the watershed for the benefit of fish, wildlife and livestock.
The project was made possible by two private landowners in the area that wanted to restore the streams and improve wildlife habitat. Partners included Idaho Fish and Game, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wood River Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Anabranch Solutions, Utah State University, and more.
Triple Creek Restoration on Myers Creek, near Chesaw, WA. Biomimicking beaver dams, we used conifer posts and weaved together dogwood, willow, and maple to create Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) to help raise an incised reach and to activate the floodplain.
The Fox Creek Habitat Restoration project is a large-scale project to restore a 1.5 mile privately-owned stretch of Fox Creek, a tributary to the North Fork John Day River. In the summer of 2018, restoration actions were implemented that sought to increase floodplain connectivity, channel sinuosity, and instream habitat. Large amounts of native plants and exclusion fencing were also installed to restore riparian habitat conditions. Within the instream restoration six beaver dam analogues were constructed.
Beaver dam analogs (BDAs) have been used by landowners and restoration practitioners such as The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to restore naturally occurring processes to streams that have historically held beaver. The large pools and aquatic vegetation that result from these structures provide quality cold-water habitat for fish and encourage the reintroduction of beaver into the areas they helped create.
Stream and riparian area degradation is widespread across the Intermountain West, yet restoration resources are limited. Relatively simple and low-cost alternatives are needed to scale up to the scope of the problem.
A renewed appreciation of the role of the once widespread beaver has revealed insights about how this ecosystem engineer affects stream hydrology, geomorphology, riparian vegetation and habitat for other species with its dam building activities. Drawing upon lessons learned about how nature heals degraded systems, conservationists are increasingly seeking ways to recreate beneficial effects associated with beaver dam-building activities where appropriate to achieve a variety of stream and riparian recovery goals.
Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) are one low cost, ‘cheap and cheerful’ technique used in beaver-assisted restoration to mimic natural beaver dams, promote beaver to work in particular areas, and accelerate recovery of incised channels. This webinar will provide a brief overview of beaver ecology and hydrogeomorphic feedbacks, beaver-assisted restoration, BDA design and application, and NRCS planning considerations and resources.
Stephen Bennett’s presentation on “Beaver Dam Analogs Galore! Implications of Bridge Creek IMW Accomplishments and Potential for Further Learning”” for the 2018 Intensively Monitored Watersheds (IMW) Workshop held November 1-2, 2018 in Portland, OR. https://www.pnamp.org/event/intensive…
A short video documenting a Beaver Dam Analogue installation at the South Fork Crooked River outside of Paulina, Oregon. This video was prepared for the 2016 Oregon State University Grand Team Challenge and was presented in Corvallis, OR during the Spring of 2017 at Celebrating Undergraduate Excellence at the OSU campus.
This is the third in a series of three videos about natural stream restoration. These videos are hosted by Dr. Jason Vogel, P.E., stormwater specialist in the department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at Oklahoma State University. The first video is about healthy streams and what makes them work and what makes them healthy. The second video is about things that can make the stream unhealthy, what can degrade the banks and destroy the habitat. And the final video is about tools and methods that we can utilize to restore the stability of the stream bank while returning the habitat to the stream.
